A Newman projection, useful in alkane stereochemistry

Alkane stereochemistry

Alkane stereochemistry concerns the stereochemistry of alkanes.Alkane conformers are one of the subjects of alkane stereochemistry.-Conformations:...

, visualizes chemical conformations of a carbon-carbon chemical bond

Chemical bond

A chemical bond is an attraction between atoms that allows the formation of chemical substances that contain two or more atoms. The bond is caused by the electromagnetic force attraction between opposite charges, either between electrons and nuclei, or as the result of a dipole attraction...

 from front to back, with the front carbon represented by a dot and the back carbon as a circle (see below). The front carbon atom is called proximal, while the back atom is called distal. This type of representation is useful for assessing the torsional angle between bonds.

A Sawhorse representation, on the other hand, views a carbon-carbon bond from an oblique angle.